In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,983, issued Sept. 30, 1975 I describe a device for feeding single blank cards at high speed into a machine for scoring, folding, stacking or otherwise handling such cards. In the operation of that device a stack of cards is placed between a guide bar and a retainer plate which hold the stack sloping downwardly in a forward direction with the lower cards of the stack being fanned forwardly above an endless belt. As the belt moves, the lowest card of the stack is drawn through the gap between the belt and a friction wheel which rotates slowly to allow the cards to move singly through the gap. The belt and friction wheel are driven by the same motor with suitable gear reduction.
The problem with such a device is that thicker cards tend to pass too slowly from the stack, creating larger gaps between cards issuing from the feeder which slows production, while thinner cards tend to pass too freely from the stack and shingle up after issuing from the feeder. The texture of the cards also influences their rate of passage through the feeder.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a card feeder of the type described in which the rate of issuance of cards is controlled notwithstanding their thickness or texture.